山白藤 shan bai teng

Sphenodesme wallichiana Schauer in A. de Candolle, Prodr. 11: 622. 1847.

Indumentum of simple hairs. Branchlets 4-angled, densely pubescent when young, glabrescent. Petiole 0.5-1.5 cm; leaf blade lanceolate-oblong to elliptic-oblong, 5.5-18 2.5-7 cm, papery to thin leathery, subglabrous to pilose, adaxially usually shiny, base cuneate to rounded. Cymes capitate, 5-flowered; peduncle to 3 cm; involucral bracts 5 or 6, oblong-spatulate, 1.5-2.8 X 0.5-1 cm, glabrous. Calyx 4-7 mm, 5-dentate, with indistinct accessory teeth between main teeth, glabrous. Corolla purple, 5-lobed, pubescent in throat. Stamens 5, exserted. Ovary densely hispid, glandular. Capsules globose, ca. 4 mm in diam., yellow hispid. Fl. and fr. Feb-May.

Mixed forests; 500-700 m. Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam]

Sphenodesme pentandra var. pentandra occurs in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam but is absent from China.